Feeding
What essentially is feeding for performance ?
Basically we are talking about feeding relative to the performance required, a responsible ration, not exclusively a high performance ration.
The horse does not live on grain alone:
The digestive system of the horse is not geared to digest large amounts of grain (concentrates) or even to eat it. Nature has "constructed" the horse to be one, a continuous eater and two, to consume large amounts of raw fibre (forage).
Background:
- Due to his "construction" the horse constantly produces stomach-acids. The extensive mastication process conditioned by the relatively dry structure of hay, causes a constant and extensive production of saliva. By means of this saliva production, the stomach acids are diluted to a healthy degree. By these means the horse is protected against stomach ulcers, which would otherwise occur if an overproduction of stomach acids should appear.
- Feeding 5 kilos or more of concentrates increases the risk of colic by approx. 600%.
- Never feed more than 200 gram starch for every 100 kg horse weight per feed. Where possible, starch should be digested completely in the stomach and the small intestine. Should undigested starch reach the appendix or the large intestine, a rise in the lactate occurs with a parallel decrease of the PH value in the appendix and/or large intestine. These organs are responsible for the digestion of pectin and cellulose, not for the digestion of starch. The bacteria responsible for the digestion of pectin and cellulose reproduce best in an environment with a PH value between 6.8 and 7.5. A reduction of these bacteria leads to a reduction in digestion, therefore a reduced energy gain, at the same time the danger of a colic increases due to a faulty fermentation and the end results of metabolic products, the dying of bacteria (endotoxins) can lead to severe metabolic problems.
- Cellulose and pectin are the life basics for the useful bacteria in the appendix and large intestine. There are people who still think that straw is an adequate foodstuff. Straw is composed mainly of lignin, containing mainly wood fibres. The good intestinal bacteria depend in their development upon sufficient availability of cellulose. If you feed a lot of straw, this results in the reduction of the good intestinal bacteria and there will be an increase in the numbers of lignin-digesting bacteria, which in turn will further suppress the bacteria digesting cellulose. With this development the danger of colic increases and additionally your horse will require more frequent rest periods due to it feeling unwell. Straw should not be a fed, even though this continues to be advocated. If your horse eats a little straw, that is not a problem. If the horse is fed mainly on hay, at least 1.5 kg per 100 kg body weight, even better freely available and you give your horse welcome activity.
- Feed your horse only easily digestible concentrates (grain) which can be almost completely digested in the large intestine. Oats are the grain that is best digested by the horse.
- Avoid starch foodstuffs that are difficult to digest, like untreated or rolled barley or maize. The starch contained in untreated barley can only be 23% digested by the horse, the starch contained in untreated maize by 28%. In this manner undigested starch components and herewith lactic acids will reach the appendix and the large intestine and will have a negative influence on the intestinal flora.
- Do not be afraid of oats, as oats don't bite, it's the amount that's fed that makes the horse lively. If you are used to feeding 2 kg barley per day, then you will need to feed only 600 gr. oats a day, due to oats being better digested. 600 gr. oats will release the same amount of energy as 2 kg untreated barley.
- To keep your horse well and healthy for a long time, it should be fed with hay and not with concentrates. Never feed the horse more than 30% concentrates in relation to the total ration. Above all feed concentrates only when the horse is due to do high performance work. Only the smallest number of horses do really need concentrates. A horse being ridden at novice level will generally be only just above the maintenance energy requirement. In this case 500 gr. to 1 kg. of oats a day added to sufficient amounts of good quality hay are enough for the horse.
- A further and very important point that is often overlooked pertains to mineral feed. The expression mineral feed is somewhat incorrect, as we are looking more at trace elements and vitamins. These allow for important synthesis and enzymatic reactions essential for the regenerative processes of the horse, its immune system and a balanced behaviour. The belief that today's agricultural products like grass, hay or concentrates contain enough of these trace elements and vitamins, is mainly wrong. Present agriculture can be better compared to commercial greenhouses, rather than to ecologically valuable planting. The requirement by the horse for these products increases with the burden placed on it by caused by sport, hard work, bad stable management, illness or injury.
- Feeding the horse with oil with a parallel reduction of sugar / starch and protein may make sense in order to provide the horse with more energy. Oil is an aerobic form of energy. When feeding oil, the correct amounts are to be given. There are people who think that a spoonful of oil will be optimal for the horse, but that much is of no benefit to him. A horse can be fed in the region of 5% fat content in relation to his total feed. To add 5% fat to the feed, prior knowledge of the fat in the basic feed is required. Hay and oats also contain fats. Good quality oats will deliver 4.9% fat, good quality hay in the region2.3%. So, if the horse is fed 2kg oats and 8 kg hay, the addition of 220 grams fat or oil is required to reach the 5% needed. When deciding to feed additional fat, it is less important to choose a nicely coloured package rather than the composition of the fatty acids. Best choice is linseed oil, equally the more economic rape seed oil can be recommended.
The economics of feeding like this:
Much in life rotates around money.
The more horses a person calls his own, the more important the cost factor. Over priced and /or inappropriate feeding will prove to be expensive, on one hand due to increased veterinary fees, on the other hand due to the need for additional feedstuffs or supplements, or because of lower sale prices for horses that may be of lesser quality.
80% of all horse disorders are due to misguided feeding. It has been scientifically proven, that hay and oats in normal quantities are the best basic feed for the horse. Additionally these two products are economically viable.
As the supply of important trace elements and vitamins does not depend upon the amount of the concentrate, the addition of high quality mineral balancer will lead to a more precise and balanced diet for the horse.
You will save money and will avoid the potentially expensive health risks caused by the wrong feed.
No one will build a house on sand, why should one do so when feeding a horse?
The correct feed is "investment protection!"
Here you will find some examples of feed rations for sport and breeding horses in various and different degrees of performance. These rations have not been designed for maximal performance, they allow for a certain degree of volume flexibility.
The starting point was a normally fed horse and some energy reserves have already been incorporated. Assumed values were placed at 8.5 Mj for hay, 11.5 Mj for oats and 37 Mj for oil, all values per kilo weight.
It is possible, that the energy density of the hay and oats you feed, may differ a little from the above given values. Our premise: "hay ad lib" is best for your horse. Hay is healthy.